Month: January 2024

Samsung to integrate Baidu’s AI model into new Galaxy S24 handsets, as mainland Chinese rivals push new smartphones with similar tech

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Under a strategic partnership between Samsung’s China arm and Baidu AI Cloud, the recently unveiled Galaxy S24 series will deploy the Ernie LLM to perform the handset’s new “Circle to Search” feature that enables users on the mainland to search texts, images or videos via hand gestures, with results provided by the Chinese online search and AI firm, according to an announcement on Thursday. Ernie will also help users translate and summarise texts, as well as transcribe speech in multiple languages via the Note Assistant function, according to Baidu. Globally,…

Did Chinese explorers from the Ming dynasty travel to the Americas decades before Columbus?

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During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Chinese admiral Zheng He commanded seven naval voyages around the Indian Ocean. These journeys took place between 1405 and 1433, involving tens of thousands of men and a massive number of ships known as the Treasure Fleet. “The mustering of resources and logistical planning was truly astounding,” said J Travis Schutz, a history professor at the California State University Los Angeles, who is not affiliated with the book. After the emperor who sponsored the first six voyages died, the new emperor decided the seventh voyage…

Thousands flee capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine state as battle looms

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Thousands of residents have fled the capital of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state in anticipation of a looming battle between the rebel ethnic Arakan Army and junta soldiers, local residents told Radio Free Asia. Fighting in the fortified administrative and military hub of Sittwe is expected to be intense, and would come after close to three months of heightened conflict between the military and the Arakan Army, or AA.  In recent weeks, the AA has seized several junta military camps in the townships that encircle Sittwe, including Mrauk-U, Minbya, Kyauktaw and…

Myanmar junta arrests 1,000 Chinese nationals in Shan state

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Myanmar junta authorities arrested more than 1,000 Chinese citizens in Namhsan, in southern Shan state, who had possibly fled from online scam crackdowns in the north, the ruling military council and area residents said.   Of the 1,038 Chinese nationals who illegally entered Namhsan, capital of the Pa Laung Self-Administered Zone, on Jan. 23, some 1,002 were men and three dozen others were women, the junta announced on Friday. They were arrested in three different areas of the town. More than 200 of those arrested are being temporarily detained in an…

Fuel tanker on fire after Houthi missile attack in Gulf of Aden

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Houthi rebels in Yemen on Friday fired a missile that set fire to a ship carrying Russian refined oil for the commodities trader Trafigura, as the Iran-backed militants stepped up their attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. The Houthi attack on the Marlin Luanda, a petroleum products tanker in the Gulf of Aden, was the first to hit a commercial vessel…

Blaming China’s women for high ‘bride prices’ is not how to promote marriage

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In one of the most brutal murders disclosed by the Shenzhen legal authorities last year, 19-year-old Xiaomin lost her life over just 55,000 yuan (US$7,600). She was stabbed to death by her ex-fiancé Ah Jin in a dispute involving the Chinese custom of a betrothal gift, or “bride price”. The two were engaged and Ah Jin paid Xiaomin’s mother the money, promising to get married once Xiaomin reached the legal marrying age of 20. But, after spending time with each other’s families, the young couple started bickering and soon broke…

Vietnam sentences ethnic minority man to 4½ years for religious activities

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Vietnam on Friday sentenced religious freedom activist Nay Y Blang to four years and six months in prison for crimes he is said to have committed while holding religious meetings in his home, state media reported. Blang, 48, is a member of the Ede ethnic group from the country’s Central Highlands.  He was accused of using these meetings to “gather forces, divide the national unity bloc, incite secession, self-rule, and establish a separate state for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands,” and was convicted of “abusing democratic freedoms,” the Tuoi…

China tests new ethnic assimilation policy on Uyghurs

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Northwest China’s Xinjiang region is the first area to implement a government policy promoting integration among ethnic groups to achieve President Xi Jinping’s goal of establishing a unified national identity, Chinese media reported. The regulation calls for the creation of mixed housing, themed venues and cultural parks, and sports and cultural activities that highlight characteristics of Chinese culture and promote zhonghua minzu — a single Chinese nationality that transcends ethnic divisions.  The policy has raised concern among China watchers and scholars, who say its goal is to further erase the…

Senior US and Chinese commerce officials poised to meet and tackle business communities’ concerns

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High-ranking commerce officials from China and the United States are expected to hold talks in Washington in the coming months, with a focus on tackling concerns from both countries’ business communities, a US trade official said on Friday. The in-person meeting would be the first of the US-China commercial issues working group – a consultation mechanism of government officials and private sector representatives seeking solutions to trade and investment disputes. The group launched last August upon US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo’s visits to China. Held at the vice-ministerial level,…

North Korea cracks down on theft of electricity meant for industry

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North Korea is cracking down on electricity theft, punishing not only residents who tap into factory supply wires, but also the corrupt officials that sell them access, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia. Electricity is not supplied to residential areas all day and all night in North Korea.  Instead, rolling blackouts are common everywhere, with some rural parts of the country only getting one hour of power each day so that they can prepare dinner. But factories, hospitals and other important government facilities receive a steady supply. Shrewd…